Ruthless
by 1Albino Panda1
Summary: MODERN AU PEOPLE! Astrid Hofferson has a bad temper on the world around her. They just don't know it yet... Rated M just to be safe:)
1. Chapter 1

Astrid POV

We waited in line for about 30 minutes. Free food was always me and Ruffey's thing, especially when I didn't want to spend money. Paying the rent was already a struggle. $780 a month was my whole paycheck and part of Ruffey's.

"Ugh! Come on people! How long does it take to get 2 pizzas, some macaroni, and a fruit?" Ruffey complained.

I elbowed her in her side and gave her 'The Glare'. She only looked down at her feet and stayed quiet the whole time.

It didn't take long for us to get our food, but when we did, we immediately went home. It was basically night and I needed to sleep for tomorrow.

"So," Ruff started as she unbuckled her seatbelt," I heard that you broke up with Scott."

My attention quickly shot to her when she mentioned it. "How did you know?"

"Girl, you leave your door open all the time and you love to yell. How couldn't I know?"

A surge of anger rushed over me as I remembered last night when I called him. "You wouldn't believe it Ruff! He cheated on me with that nasty ass bitch! The one that he "always" had to go study with for class!"

Ruff must've seen that anger come out of me because she quickly hugged me from the other seat.

"Forget about him, Astrid. He's not worth your time." She pulled away from me with a mischievous smirk one her face. "He'll regret playin' with you like that once I'm done with him."

I gave her a small smile but I was still pretty pissed of about it.

Then my phone started ringing. I looked at the screen and immediately picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Hey! It's Henry."

"Oh hey. What's u-"

Ruff interrupted, whispering,"Who's that?" When I mouthed Henry she said,"Put it on speaker."

I looked at her for a moment and pressed speaker on the phone.

"Sorry Henry. My roommate needed something. What's up?"

"So you know how I said I was supposed to be going out to dinner with my girl?"

"Yeah?"

"Well turns out I won't be going anywhere."

I paused for a moment to look at Ruff and she had the same look as me. "Why? What happened? Did she chicken out or something?"

"N-No. I end up breaking up with her."

Me and Ruff gasped at the same time. Henry actually broke up with someone, let alone dating someone. Ruff was about to ask the question but I beat her to it.

"Why did you break up with her?"

"Well lets just say she cheated on me…with Scott."

There was an extremely long silence that lasted for about a good 3 minutes. Scott cheated on me for Henry's girl?! Oh hell nah. I'm pretty sure my face was a deep red they way Ruff was looking at me.

"SO THAT BASTARD HAD THE AUDACITY TO, NOT ONLY CHEAT ON ME, BUT TO TURN ON HIS COUSIN?!"

I was fuming at this point. Both Ruff and Henry knew.

"Astrid calm down. I know you're mad but you can't let the anger get to you. And you know why."

"SO IM JUST SUPPOSED TO IGNORE IT? I WASTED MY TIME AND MONEY FOR SOMEONE WHO DIDN'T EVEN CARE! FOR SOMEONE WHO DIDN'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT ME! AND YOU WANT ME TO IGNORE IT? HELL NO!"

I got out the car without even grabbing anything and stormed into the apartment.

The apartment was bigger than average and even had an basement where Ruff stayed. The walls were painted light blue and the floor was a light tan color. The kitchen was huge. It was so big that they could probably fit 50 people in there, shoulder to shoulder. The living room was huge as well. A 60' inch TV stayed on top of a stand the also held an Xbox and a Wii. With, of course, a glass coffee table and a big dark blue couch.

I stormed straight to my room and started breaking everything in sight. My lamp, my pictures, my mirror, I even attempted to break my desk. I couldn't think straight. All I thought about was how people were traitors and selfish. Too many people in my life have bailed on me and Ruff is the only one closest to family. I couldn't take anymore of things like this.

As soon as I was about to throw a chair across the room, Ruff ran in and pinned me to the ground.

"ASTRID, STOP!" She had my arms behind my back in the most painful way. I grimaced as she pulled them tighter.

"Control yourself, girl! Henry said he was coming since he heard you slam the car door."

I started to scream into the floor for no apparent reason. Good thing our apartment is sound proof or else everyone would come knocking at the door angry.

I screamed for about 5 minutes when Henry came rushing in. "Why is she screaming?"

"I don't know. She started doing it when I mentioned you were coming."

Henry came over to us, stepping over the broken glass on the floor. He gestured to Ruff get off me and sat me up, still screaming.

"Astrid, you need to calm down right now." He said quietly regarding that I was still screaming.

Surprisingly, I heard him. I didn't want to stop for some reason but I also didn't want to annoy him and Ruff for so long. I stopped a little after he said it and started tapping my finger on the ground.

Tapping always soothed me. Usually when I'm about to go into problems like this, I start tapping on anything. Ruffey's mom told me she taps on things just break a silence. For me, it was this.

"Feelin better, Ash?" Ruff asked moving closer to me.

Before I responded, I opened my eyes and surveyed the room. It was a complete mess. It hasn't been like this since- No, you just calmed down. Stay away from the memories. I finally stood up after a bit, brushing the hair out my face. "Yeah. I'm okay now."

I was immediately pulled into a bear hug from both of them. It was nice that at least someone cares about me.

Henry was the first to pull away from the embrace. He had a face of disappointment and sorrow. "Don't scare us like that again." Poking my nose.

"Yeah, we don't want you tuh…ya know." Ruff pulled away and started towards the door. "Now let's leave this landfill called 'a room' and eat some pizza."

I nodded my head, accepting that my room is a landfill, and followed her. Only for Henry to stop me and whisper something in my ear.

"What goes around, comes back around, Astrid." Then he winked at me before he left the room.

What was that supposed to mean? Then I suddenly got an idea of what he meant. I knew that there was gonna be conflict in the near future.

"Oh boy."


	2. Chapter 2

**I just figured out how to do the authors note. I'm new at this so its gonna take a bit to fully adapt to this properly. Hope you enjoy!**

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Astrid POV

I woke up the next morning on the couch. The sun shown down on my face from the blinds. It took me a couple of minutes but I manage to force myself up. My body was sore and bruised up from the previous night. I even noticed that Ruff bandaged most of the cuts on my hands and arms.

Slowly, I got up from the couch to use the bathroom, only to hear a knock at the door.

Why is someone here this early?

I went to the door to look through the peephole. Henry. I really didn't want to see him right now, especially when I needed to use the bathroom. But I unlocked the door anyway.

"Well good morning, marshmallow." He greeted me with a warm smile. I'd have say, I loved his smiles. They always cheered me up. Even when I'm in the baddest of moods.

I smiled back. "Mornin to you too. You can come in but try not to make any noise. Ruff is sleeping and you know she's not a morning gal."

He walked in carrying a huge bag and set it in the living room. I wanted to ask him what was in the bag but I seriously needed to use the bathroom. So I spoke as fast as I could," I have to go right now or else I'll piss myself and you don't want that happening! Brb!"

After I was done, I stopped right in my tracks to see Ruffey rummaging through the bag Henry brought.

"Hey Astrid! Henry got us a load of decorations for the house!" She held up a pair of hot pink…thongs.

I gaped at Henry with the most confused expression ever, hand over my mouth.

He was blushing a deep red and looked puzzled. "I did not put those in there. I don't even know where they came from."

Ruff started laughing like crazy falling on the floor. "Oh my gosh this is too good!" She kept laughing for a bit. "Don't worry Henry! They're mine!"

His expression showed relief and disturbance. He put his hands over his face as he started laughing too. That made me laugh as well and we just sat there like a bunch of weirdos, laughing crazily.

We quieted down a bit and I grabbed the bag and dug through it. "What are these things you got any-," Then I recognized everything in the bag, "Henry? Where did you get all this?"

He was done laughing now and got a more serious look on his face. "I-I was kicking…Scott out of my apartment. He was out somewhere this morning, so I went to look around in his room and found all these things that belonged to you." He looked straight at me with a worried look. Probably to see my 'angry' reaction.

I stared at the bag in disbelieve. Why would he get my stuff back? Why did he even bother the time of day to go in that bastards' room? Instead of getting mad, I closed my eyes and sighed heavily.

"Thank you." I clutched onto a necklace that I somehow lost around Scott. Probably stole it.

Henry and Ruff both exchanged looks. That was not the reaction they were expecting.

I opened my eyes and smiled at both of them. "Aren't you guys hungry? Cuz' I am." I got up, bringing the bag with me, and went to the bathroom to change.

I found one of my over-sized hoodies and a matching pair of sweatpants. Might as well wear this for today. I slipped into the clothing and looked in the door mirror. I could tell I was getting bigger, probably from all the junk food me and Ruff snack on. My hair was longer than usual and needed a trimming. Something on my agenda for later.

Then I just stared at myself taking in what I saw. Am I really seen as someone's doll? Just for someone to play with one minute and throw away the other? I started feeling a bit of rage coming back to me, but I shut down the feeling. No Astrid. This day needs to be normal. Not like yesterday.

I dug through the bag a little more to find a pair of socks and shoes. Wow I left a lot of stuff at that snothead's house. I quickly put my hair in a braided crown and set the giant bag on the toilet seat.

"Astrid! Come on! Stop playing with yourself!" Ruff was knocking on the door so we could leave.

I took one last good look of myself then followed Ruff out the house.

...

"Wow I never thought pancakes could taste this damn good!" Ruff was basically shoving a whole pancake down her throat. Watching her do it was pretty disgusting while me and Henry were waiting for our order.

Henry cleared his throat, "So Astrid. How have you been this past morning?"

Oh fuck. What does he want to know now?

"Oh Henry I've been doing just fine. Just like any other morning that I woke up to." Sarcasm filled my words as I spoke.

"Alright I'll get straight to the point." Henry sat up in his seat and looked me with a half smile. Ugh, his smile. "I got a call from Heather-."

"HEATHER?" I swear everyone could hear me in the restaurant and started to stare. I had got up a little when I yelled and sat back down. "What do you mean Heather called you?"

"Well If you could let me finish," Henry said, glaring, "Heather called me because she wants to meet up with you."

I scoffed, "Why would she want to meet up with me?"

"Maybe she wants to say sorry to you," Ruff was talking with food in her mouth. Something I always hated her doing, "She didn't mean to hurt you at all. She told me when you didn't talk to her anymore."

Our orders finally came and I immediately dug into my scrambled eggs. I was still thinking about whether or not I should really go to Heather. Last time she was here, she did hurt me to the point I had to go to the hospital. But then again, she was drunk.

After making my decision, I took my phone out and texted her. Where are we meeting up at? Then I took a deep breath. "Ok guys. I'll meet up with her but I'm saying this one time only. If I come back home in my 'anger mode', I'm taking it out on y'all." I gave them a little smirk and we finished up breakfast.

…

I pulled up at the old, abandoned ice cream shop just as Heather said. I didn't like the idea that she told me to meet up here, especially when I didn't see a car in the parking lot.

I sat in my car looking for any sign of her. This is probably a set up. I all of a sudden jumped back when I heard a bag on the side window. It was her. She went to the driver window and I rolled it down.

"Hey Astrid." She said timidly.

"So you wanna break my windows now?" I glared at her intensely and she looked away.

"Sorry 'bout that."

We were quiet for a while when she finally spoke. "Can I sit in the car?"

She looked nervous asking the question. I thought about it for a moment, then I gestured her in the vehicle. She quickly went around the car to the other side and got in the passenger seat. We were still quiet for a while till I broke the silence.

"Why exactly are you here?"

She was still quiet for a bit. Then she spoke, " I came to say sorry."

"About what?" I already knew the answer but I wanted her to say it.

"Because I was being a stupid, drunk bitch to you."

"That doesn't mean anything to me."

Heather shifted in her seat looking out the window. "You might hate me right now, Astrid, but believe me when I say this," she turned her head to look at me, "I regret what I did to you. I never intended to purposely do it. I had a drinking problem then and I still do now. I'm trying to stop so I don't fuck up people's lives like I did yours. I'm really sorry Astrid. And I understand if you don't accept my apology."

I took in everything she said. She sounded more sincere than she ever did before. I didn't want her to feel worse than she already is, so I hugged her from across the seat.

She hugged me back and I felt tears come down on my shoulder. I hope this was a good idea. After a minute or two of embracing, I started the car and plugged my aux cord to my phone. "You didn't bring your car with you?" I asked her pulling out the lot.

"No I walked here." Heather answered in the most saddest way possible.

I smiled, "Well that's good because we're gonna go party and you don't need a car."

She looked confused. "Where are we partying at?"

"The club."

"But we don't have club money."

I looked at her for a brief moment and said, "We don't need club money. I got this covered."


	3. Chapter 3

**Im starting to get better at this...I think:/**

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Astrid POV

All eyes were on us. We didn't even wait in line like everybody else. Instead, we walked straight to the front.

"Hey!" Someone at the front of the line yelled, "Y'all bitches gotta wait in line like the rest of us!"

I ignored her and went to the table at the entrance.

The guy sitting there looked at me and shot me a crooked smile. "Hey, Astrid. I haven't seen you in a minute. How's my sister doing?"

"She's doing fine." I was annoyed with him already. "Me and Heather want to go inside for about an hour. Can you do that for us?"

He thought for a moment. "I can get you in but I don't know about her." Pointing to Heather.

"Why not?" I was getting pissed now. All I wanted to do was have fun with Heather for a while.

"Because, I can barely get you in without getting caught. How am I supposed to get her in too?"

Oh no. The rage was getting to me again at the worst time possible.

"TAHBIAS! JUST GET ME AND HEATHER IN, ILL PAY YOU LATER!"

He just looked at me in shock and sighed. "If I get fired because of you Ash, I'm moving in with you and Ruff."

I just rolled my eyes at the thought of that happening. "Fine! Whatever!"

He got up and opened the door for us and we slipped through quietly.

There was more people in here than usual. The music was blasting through the speakers and no one could barely move through the crowds. The first thing that caught my eye was the food table. It had so much food on it that if they put another platter down, everything would surely fall. I haven't had anything to eat since this morning, so that was my first destination.

"Come on Heather! Let's eat something first!" I basically had to yell as loud as I could. I could barely hear myself.

"What?" She also yelled as loud as she could.

I wasn't going to waste my breath on trying to yell. Instead, I grabbed her arm and pulled her to follow me.

It took us a while to get through the crowd to the table. But when we got there, too many people were crowding it to _grab_ something.

"Let's go stand over there instead!" I pointed to a less crowded area. She nodded as I pulled her along. I could hear myself better without people screaming in my ear.

"Are the parties usually like this?" She asked me as she grabbed a random drink by a chair.

I shook my head in response and took the drink from her hand, "No. Something special must be going on tonight. And no alcohol for you, young lady."

As soon as I said that, a guy came up to Heather.

"Wassup, baby girl?" They embraced as I stood there in shock.

"Uh who are you?" I asked looking between them.

He shook my hand firmly yet gently. "I'm Freddy, Heather's… friend."

If he thought I could fall for that one, he's wrong. "What friend calls you 'baby girl'?"

Heather just mumbled something that I couldn't make out and said louder, "Well Freddy here m-might kinda, sorta be my…boyfriend."

I just looked at her, trying to pull a smile on my face. Just looking at them together made me feel… happy? Heather is way too pretty for him, and he was too damn ugly for her. She was slim and tall and he was chubby and stubby. Ha. But still, seeing Heather with a boyfriend made my day.

"I thought you said 'boys are gross and you'll never have a boyfriend'?" I tried my best Heather impression as I could.

She punched me in the shoulder playfully and gave me an evil look. "First of all, I do not sound like a high-pitched version of Henry. Second, I said that when I was little. Don't start bringing up the past."

Then there was a loud boom over everything. Everyone stopped what they were doing to look at the entrance. There stood a man with tattoos all over his arms and face, holding a gun. I seen that he shot a hole in the ceiling from where he was standing. He started walking towards the middle of the room. People let him pass as he walked. He stopped dead in front of a guy who was at least 2ft taller than him, passing him the gun.

"Hello ladies and gentlemen." He said loud enough for everyone to hear. "I know why you're here tonight and I'm sure you've been waiting long enough. ITS BRAWL NIGHT!"

The crowd started cheering like crazy as the guy held up a giant gold medal. Me and Heather exchanged looks of excitement. I've never been here for a brawl night so I didn't know what to expect.

The guy motioned for the crowd to quiet down before he spoke. "Now with every other night that we've done this, we always had volunteers. But tonight we're gonna switch it up a bit. Me and my assistant will be choosing from the crowd to go against each other."

 _So basically I could be chosen to fight someone? Nope. Time to go._

"Here are my only rules for this. One, you must have 2 shots of my strongest alcohol. Two, you can't forfeit. That'll just mean you're a pussy. Three, all accessories like rings, neckless, earrings, are to be taken off. Y'all ready to begin?"

The crowd went crazy once again. Then the dude and his assistant went through the crowd searching for components.

I got nervous because I didn't want to get picked. I just wanted to watch the action happen. I got my phone to check the time. _1:34am_. We had about 20 minutes before we had to leave.

"Heather I think we should start towards the door," I spoke as I pushed her a little, "It's almost time go and we don't wanna get caught by security."

Heather pouted a bit. "But I wanna watch the first one."

"Well we can still watch it. Just over by the door."

I felt a hard tap on my shoulder and I turned around to see the assistant.

"It's your lucky day miss." He had the most unpleasant smile with missing teeth.

"What!?" I felt my heart pounding through my chest as he yanked my towards the middle of the room. _You've got to be kidding me right now! I knew we should've left when we could!_ Everyone was cheering at me. Slapping my back, ruffing up my hair, and shaking me I as I pasted. I tried to escape from his grip on my wrist but he was stronger.

Seconds later, I was at the middle of a human circle. Seeing everyone basically going crazy and hearing them shout in encouragement. I tried looking for Heather but it was no use. There was just too many people.

I stood there after a minute or two until I saw the tattoo guy walk out onto the floor, another girl trailing behind.

She didn't look nervous at all. She actually looked excited. I seen the mischievousness written all over her face as walked closer to me. She was so close that I was the only one that could hear her in ear shot.

"Hello…Astrid."

I looked at her puzzled. _How does she know my name?_

That was until I started to recognize the nasty ass bitch. Henry's ex


	4. Chapter 4

**A little shorter than the other chapters. Just to have more time to work on Chapter 5;)**

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Henry POV

 _Where is she? Did she end up meeting with Heather? Did something bad happen?_

I couldn't stop pacing their living room thinking _about_ Astrid. Especially with that illness she's got going on. It was only because of that accident Heather got her into. She could forgive people easily over some things but got violent the next.

I kept pacing the room a little longer until I heard Ruff coming up the basement stairs.

"Ruff!" I shouted frantically, "Did she text you back yet?"

She entered the kitchen and grabbed some juice from the fridge, ignoring completely what I asked.

I tried again. "Ruff, did she text back?"

With the most loudest groan, she slowly stomped to the living room and plopped herself on the couch. "I'm not answering your question for the 10th time, Henry."

"I need to know if she's okay."

Ruff, swallowing her juice, turned on the TV and patted the spot next to her. "Well I want to know if she's okay too, but you can't bug her 24/7."

"You're right, but I still need to know." I sat down in the spot she gestured to and sighed. I was there for her for the past 5 years, when she needed me most. Seeing her go through pain was enough for me. Disappointing her was something I avoided. She didn't need anymore troubles in her life.

"What? You like her or something?" She asked teasingly. There was a small silence that lingered for a bit. Then Ruff turned towards me, wide-eyed. "You do like her!"

"What!?" I shrieked in embarrassment, realizing what Ruff just said.

She got up from where she sat and marched around the coffee table. "Henry likes Astrid! Henry likes Astrid!"

I only sat there and watched Ruffey in disbelief. But then again, I considered what she said. _Do I like Astrid? She's pretty, that's no lie, but do I have feelings for her?_

I struggled to find words to attempt to change her mind. "Um, well…I-I don't, uh-."

"Oh, Henry Haddock," she started in a dreamy voice, "Never would I have known that a guy of brains and awkwardness, would be attracted to a girl of strength and beauty."

I scratched the back of my neck nervously, not knowing what to say.

She got down on the floor in front of me and stared up like a child ready to hear a story. "So how much do you like her? Do you 'I wanna hold hands' like her or 'I wanna fuck her' like her?"

Now I _really_ didn't know how to answer that. I just shrugged slowly and she got frustrated.

"Come on, Henry! You can't just stay cooped up in your little fantasy world forever! It'll be just between you and me, ok?"

It took me while to think about what she said. I really didn't want to discuss this with someone, of all people her.

"I, uh, guess I like her. I mean, she's pretty, I'm not blind about that."

Ruff started to laugh uncontrollably, kicking her feet on the ground. "Oh my God, Henry! You should ask her out!"

"Uh, do you really think that's a good idea?" I looked at her, obviously dumbfounded of what she said.

She thought for a moment when realization crossed her face. "Ohh, that's not a good idea, huh?"

I shook my head. _Is she slow or something?_

"You can always get her to notice you, ya know," She said thoughtfully, "She's not hard to seduce if you really tried."

"Maybe I don't want to," I said, grabbing the Xbox controller from the table, "She might just want to be left alone. She probably doesn't want to be in another relationship with anyone else."

"Did you ask her?"

Hearing those words come out of her mouth made me quiet. I don't really ask Astrid questions unless they're important. _I mean, I guess this is important in a way._ But the thing is, I don't want her popping off on me. I wouldn't know what to expect from her.

We stayed quiet the whole time playing some game until Ruffey"s phone started ringing.

She looked at the screen and her eyes got wide, answering it and putting it on speaker. "Hello?"

 _"This is Rochelle, right?"_

"Yeah, this is Ruff." She answered annoyed. Ruff hated people calling her by her name.

 _"Ok, uh, we might be in some major trouble_."

Me and Ruff looked at each other worriedly. "What kind of trouble, Heather? Where are you guys at? Why is it so loud?"

" _We're at the club downtown. Astrid got caught in some brawl event."_

"Oh shit!" Ruff ran her hands through her hair, "That's where I go with Tuff sometimes to watch people get their ass beat! I don't even know why they do that."

As soon as I heard that, I jumped up from the couch and grabbed my keys. "Come on, Ruff! We need to go get her!"

"Alright, Heather, we're on our way." Ruff ended the call and we hurried out the house


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry it took so long to update this. I'm bad at writing fighting scenes, so bear with me. Enjoy!**

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Astrid POV

Everything was blurry. I couldn't see a damn thing, just big, colorful lights everywhere. I stumbled whenever I tried to walk. One moment I was fine and the next I felt like shit. I could barely hear anything over my head pounding hard.

I think I heard a whistle blow, but I wasn't sure. I tried squinting my eyes to see when I felt a powerful pain struck the side of my face. I fell hard onto the ground, trying to get myself up. Then another strike went to my side. I yelped in pain, still struggling to get up. I got up, trying to keep my balance, attempting to straighten my vision. Right then, I remembered what was going on. _I'm still at the brawl…_

My vision cleared up a bit but not all the way for me to notice faces. I could feel something running from my mouth. I touched it to see a red substance on my hand. Blood.

I looked around to see if I could find Heather, but it was still a bit too blurry. As I looked around some more, something went barreling into my stomach, knocking me down to the floor hard. I felt weight on my legs and looked up to see a figure. Who is this!? They suddenly got closer to my face and I could see them perfectly, until I remembered who it was. A surge of anger ran through me but quickly faded for some reason.

"Get up, Astrid! You're just gonna let me beat you up like that?"

I barely heard what she said. I tried pushing her off of me but I was too weak. Then I heard her laugh and she closer to my face, barely touching my nose.

"I can see why you weren't good enough for Scott."

Everything stopped. When I heard those exact words, my blood rushed everywhere in my body and I started getting hot. My vision sharpened and I got a sudden urge of strength. That girl just triggered my anger, she don't expect a thing coming.

I pushed her off of me and she seemed fly across the floor. I got up slowly, ignoring the pain in my stomach. It was like I could see everything all at once. I couldn't stop staring at that bitch. I can't believe she just said that!

People started cheering as I walked towards her. She was in a fighting stance with a grin on her face.

"Oh, now you wanna fight me! Took you long enough."

I stopped dead in front of her and didn't move a muscle.

"Come on, throw a punch! I'll give you a free-."

Her babbling was interrupted by my fist pounding her square in her face. She recoiled a bit, nose bleeding, and tried to punch me back. I quickly dodged her and grabbed her arm, throwing her onto her back. She looked like all the wind knocked out of her but I didn't stop there. I stood over her, bending down to grab the shoulder straps of the shirt she wore.

I didn't know what went through my head at that moment, but I was pounding her head against the floor. I did it about three times before I was pulled off of her by someone in the crowd.

A whistle blew again and the guy's assistant ran over to the girl. He picked her up and carried her out the club entrance, leaving everyone in silence.

The rush that was in me went away. I looked around at everybody and they looked back at me, appalled.

"Yo, you went too far." One guy said.

"Yeah, this wasn't a battle to death." Another stated.

Nope. The anger was back again. "What do you mean I went too far!? Why do you guys have this event in the first place?" I shouted at them with my fist clenched.

Another guy spoke up, "We have this event because we want to, bitch."

I walked over to him and got in his face. "Well maybe you should've done it then if you wanted this event."

Then he shoved me back into some people. On reflex, I socked him in his face as hard as I could. He stumbled and yelled in pain. Why did you do that, Astrid?

I felt a tap on my shoulder and looked over to see Heather.

"I think it's a good time to leave." She whispered as quietly as possible.

I nodded and we made our way through the crowd. Then I heard someone yell "run". I turned around and seen the same guy I punched pushing through the crowd, straight towards us.

"Run, Heather!" I shouted and we darted straight out the door.

Tahbias was still at the door and I stopped to quickly to give him his money. Then me and Heather ran to the parking lot.

"Where's the car!?" Heather panicked as she seen the guy come through the door looking for us.

"I don't know!" I replied, just as panicked. "I can't drive anyway because I still feel a little under the influence."

"Fuck it then! We'll come back for it!" Heather and I ran down the street in the direction of my apartment.

When we got far enough from the building, we slowed to a walk.

"Why would you do that, Astrid?" Heather asked after a while.

"What? Beating the girl or punching that dude?" I responded lively.

"Both! You went crazy beating up that girl! You looked like fucking Hulk when you threw her to the ground! And with that guy? You didn't hesitate to punch him!"

I opened my mouth to say something, but then I realized that Heather doesn't know about my "condition" she caused.

"Well…I, uh." I couldn't seem to get my words out. So I just stayed quiet until a car pulled up next to us.

"Astrid! Heather!" Ruff yelled through the window, "Get in!"

We did as told and climbed into the back seat. Henry turned towards us and screwed up his face.

"What happened to you guys? Where's your car, Astrid?" He said in concern.

I scoffed, "Can we discuss this later? I just want to go home."

"Well just gimme your keys and I'll go get it." Ruff offered.

I reached in my pocket and gave her my only set of keys.

"Don't lose them, Ruff. I know how you are with small objects."

She rolled her eyes, got out the car, and headed back to the parking lot.

Heather climbed over me to get to the front seat.

"So do I need to take you home?" Henry asked her.

"No, Astrid said that I could crash at her place."

I couldn't hear what they were saying. The drowsy feeling came back to me. My head pounded again and I couldn't see well.

Heather turned towards me and said something but I couldn't make it out. I felt my eyes growing heavy and there was darkness.

…

I woke up to the sound of the Wii turning on. Opening my eyes slightly, I could see Heather and Ruff sitting on the opposite side of the couch. Both of them had controllers on their hand.

Ruff started laughing mischievously. "You're going down, fuck face!"

Heather gasped and punched her in the shoulder. "Rude! And no, your gonna feel salty when I beat you!"

I looked at the TV and they were playing Super Smash Bros Brawl. I didn't like that game, even though Ruff wanted it.

They started insulting each other playfully and I giggled at bit. They must've heard me because their attention shot to me.

"Well good afternoon, fuck up!" Ruff said with a smile.

Heather elbowed her hard in her side and smiled at me.

"I don't know what she had in her cereal this morning. She's been like this for hours." She shot Ruff a look of death.

Ruff just shrugged and laughed. "I guess you can say, Tuff, came over early this morning and we had our special cigarettes."

The words came grumpily out my mouth, "Ruff. I told you and Tuff to go do that somewhere else. The basement door is right by the front door."

"Ugh, fine." Ruff slumped back on the couch and started the game.

"Oh and Astrid," Heather started slowly, "You got a call from someone saying that you need to work 2nd shift today."

My eyes opened wide and I looked for my phone frantically. "What time is it!?"

Ruff looked at her phone. "Almost 3."

"Exact time please!"

She looked at her phone again. "2:47."

 _Shit. I need to be there at 3!_ I got up quickly and ran to my room. It was still a mess. I stepped over all the glass on the floor and rummaged through my closet.

When I found my uniform, I threw on my shoes, grabbed my keys from a hook near the door, and ran out the door. Then I opened the door again.

"Bye guys!"

And the door closed again.


	6. Chapter 6

**Don't worry, the story is gonna get better!:)**

* * *

Astrid POV

The restaurant was busier than normal. People came rushing in and out, ordering the biggest meals ever, and ended up breaking the slushy machine.

It was pretty hot that day. It was only June and it reached about 96 degrees outside. Everybody was sweating like crazy, including me. It helped that there was air conditioning in the place, but it still felt stuffy.

I was the waitress so I had to do a lot of walking. The other waiter that was supposed to be there didn't show up, so I had to attend all the tables. It was a good thing though, that way I'll get paid extra.

There was a couple tables that already had their food, and some that had just ordered, so I had a little break. I walked over to the Cam, the cashier girl, and slumped on the counter.

"Busy, busy day huh, Ash?" She said as she gave someone their receipt. I grunted in response and she chuckled. "I know I'm tired too. I've been here all morning, just standing."

I shifted my weight to the other foot once it got tired. "I feel just as bad for you as I am myself." I mumbled.

"What troubles have you gotten yourself into now?" She said teasingly.

"Too much." I replied with a sigh.

Cam gave someone back some change after they paid. "Well don't be hard on yourself kiddo. Especially when someone's waiting for their order." She nudged me as an order was set on a table for me to get.

I groaned and walked over promptly, taking it to a table.

It had been another busy hour when I happened to see Henry seated at a table with his mother. I hesitated before going over there. I put on the nicest smile I could even though I was exhausted.

"Are you guys ready to order?" I said in a cheery tone.

Henry looked up from the menu and gave me a goofy smile. "Well good afternoon, marshmallow."

"Oh!" Henry's mom finally looked up from menu as well, "I didn't know you worked here darling."

"Yeah I was supposed to work later on but I got called in." I said letting the tiredness show in my face. "And on the worst day possible."

Henry laughed a bit and I glared at him. "I'll get the number 5 special, milady."

"Don't call me that." I said with a bite in my tone as I scribbled down his order.

"Oh I'm sorry for irritating you, marshmallow." He said in savvy way.

"Stop being mean, Hic." Henry's mother scolded.

I questioned the fact that she just called him Hic, but I quickly moved the thought out my head. "What would like ma'am?" I asked politely.

"Oh, I'll just have the number 8 special with extra honey mustard."

I nodded my head. "Ok I'll be back soon with your food."

I walked away and attended another table.

...

I almost fell asleep driving, I was so tired. I barely wanted to get out the car when I got home. I just sat there.

It was only a couple minutes before I decided to get out. I moseyed along, with every muscle in my body aching. When I came to the door, I didn't hear anything. No shouting, no movement, the TV wasn't on either. I turned the doorknob and it opened. _Those bastards didn't lock the door._

I stepped through, half expecting to see Ruff or Heather run from the couch and hug me. Except all I saw was emptiness. There were no lights on at all.

I got a little suspicious that they were both trying to scare me. I quietly closed the door and tiptoed to the couch. I looked behind it but nothing was there. Then I went down the hall to the empty to the storage room. Nothing.

I came back into the living room and just stood there. Where are they?

My stomach starting growling and I spotted a new, unopened box of cereal. Next to it was a bowl with a spoon in it. They probably knew I would want some cereal. The only thing that wasn't there was the milk. I walked over to the fridge, opened it, and looked at the empty milk carton confused. There was a note on the carton that read 'Ran outta milk. Went to the store. Be back soon!'.

Those fuckers did that on purpose. I flipped the note over and it read something else. 'Whatever you do DON'T go in your room'. _Oh boy_. I was tempted to look in there to see what they did, but I didn't bother.

Finally, I plopped down on the couch, letting out a long sigh. It felt good to get off my feet. I just wanted to sleep for days.

I must've dozed off because I jumped when I felt my phone vibrating. Pulling out my pocket very slowly, I looked at the screen and saw Henry's name. _Oh my god what does he want_.

I answered the phone only to hear a loud bang on the other end.

" _Shit_!"

"Hey, Henry." I said groggily.

" _Ha! Sorry, Ash. I didn't mean to wake you if I did."_

"No. You didn't, but whatever you dropped did."

He laughed a bit. " _Yeah, I dropped a pot with some water in it. And now Toothless is soaking wet."_

I giggled at the fact that he spilled water on his cat. "Why you call?"

There was a little pause on the his end.

 _"Well it's kinda, um, quiet over here."_

"You can talk to snothead, duh." I said with a laugh.

 _"Not funny."_

I felt a little a guilty mentioning him but whatever. Nobody said anything for a couple of seconds. I could hear him making all types of noises. He must've been washing the dishes. Then I remembered something his mom called him from earlier.

"Henry."

" _Yeah?"_

"Why did your mom call you Hic?"

He growled in frustration and turned the running water off.

 _"I do_ _ **not**_ _want to explain that right now or ever."_

"Oh, come on!" I whined, still a groggy tone in my voice, "You have to tell me now! Please?"

" _No."_

"Pretty please?"

 _"No."_

"With cherries on top?"

 _"Hell no. I'll tell you another time, maybe."_

"Ugh, fine." I finally said.

There was another silence and started to hear sizzling. Then he broke the silence.

" _Where are your two mischievous friends at?"_

"I don't kno-."

I was scared half to death when something growled in my ear. I never got up so fast in my life. I managed to end up on the other side of the room in 2 seconds.

 _"What's wrong, Ash? Why did you scream?"_

I looked up to see Heather and Ruffey at the couch laughing at me until they cried. I got so angry but also laughed.

"YOU MOTHERFUCKERS! WHERE THE HELL DID Y'ALL COME FROM!?"

They still laughed, barely able to catch their breath.

I started crying from being scared so bad. "IM GONNA KILL YOU GUYS!"

Then they both got up and ran down the hall and I followed closely behind.

...


	7. Chapter 7

**Another chapter ready to go. I also wanted to mention the reviews about putting modern au at the beginning of my summary. Like dude, if you can't read a ONE SENTENCE summary before clicking on it, then what's the point of reading at all? But anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

Ruff POV

 _Finally. I had a whole day to myself. No Astrid. No Heather. No Henry. Just relaxation._

I was in my makeshift hammock in the basement. There was music playing on the radio I had.

Astrid had took Heather home and went to Henry's afterward. I didn't think she would trust me to watch the house but whatever.

Just as I was dozing off, I heard a knock on the door.

I ignored it and hoped they would go away.

They knocked again, but louder.

I put a pillow over my ear to block out the noise.

It sounded like they were banging a hammer on the door now.

I growled in frustration. "WHO THE FUCK IS IT!?"

Their voice sounded muffled from behind the door. "It's Tahbias!"

"THE FUCK DO YOU WANT?" I asked angrily.

"Answer the door and I'll tell you!"

I sat there, refusing to get up for a couple of minutes, until he started banging on the door again. I got up fast, stopping all the way to the door. I opened the door and punched him in the stomach. He punched me back in the boob.

"What do you want, Tuff."I asked impatiently.

"Let's go do something," he insisted eagerly, "I'm so bored out of my mind. I can't stand it! I heard they're having a meet up downtown at the old warehouse. We should go!"

"And what makes you think I want to go with you?" I said even more impatient.

He grinned mischievously. "Eret will be there."

I stared at him for a few seconds, wide-eyed. Then I ran downstairs, threw my half, decent clothes on, and ran back out the door. I made sure it was locked before I left.

…

We all laughed at a story one of the guys there told us. There was at least 50 people at the meet up, just hanging out.

I didn't recognize most of the people there except a couple of Tuff's friends. I scanned the room to try and find Eret, but it was no luck. _Tuff probably lied to me. Ugh, that motherfucker just wanted me to come along with him!_

We all talked for a while, blasting music, until we heard a bang on the door. One dude quickly turned off the music and another quietly went to the door.

I heard him whisper something and he opened the door wide. In came a group of guys, one of them being Eret. A smile pulled at my lips as I watched him cross my way.

My smile quickly faded as another guy came in with two girls at each side. I recognized that bastard from anywhere. _Scott_.

"Hey, hey, hey! How y'all doing this fine evenin'?" Scott's voice filled the whole building.

Everyone whooped except me. I never thought I'd see him again… at least this soon.

"Now, you're all probably wondering why I called y'all here today," Scott started, "But I've got some good news and bad news. What news to y'all want to hear first?"

Literally everyone in the room said 'bad'. He looked a little shocked but proceeded.

"Y'all always wanna get the bad end of things. Anyway, bad news is one of my girls passed away recently."

There were murmurs going through the crowd of people.

"Tragic, I know." He didn't even sound sad at all. Then he pipped up. "Good news is we'll get to have some fun at a 'revenge' type of deal. Revenge from someone who caused the death of my girl, Victoria."

 _Victoria. Was that the name of Henry's ex?_ Then a thought hit me but I shook it away. _Astrid couldn't have hurt her that bad to kill her… right?_

He continued. "If any of you guys see her on the streets, tell _Astrid Hofferson_ that she's playing in my neighborhood now."

My eyes grew wide and I almost jumped out my seat. I shot a look at Tuff and he had the same look as me. _Astrid, killed someone!?_ I tried to process it all but it was too overwhelming. _I have to tell her! But if I do, she'll_ _feel even worse about herself._

Everyone agreed to what Scott said and turned the music back on. I went over to Tuff who had 'panic' written all over his face.

"We have to get outta here." I said quickly.

"Yeah, no kidding." He replied just as quick.

We started towards the door. My heart beat faster as I thought of what to say to Astrid. I was so distracted that I didn't notice Scott walking towards me.

He had a smirk on his face as he talked. "Well hello there, beautiful."

I glared at him. I didn't want anything to do with this bastard.

"Not interested." I growled.

"Woah, who busted your bubble?" He asked, the smirk never leaving his face.

I didn't have time for this. "Just move the fuck out my way!" I basically pushed him into someone else.

"Listen here," he grabbed my wrist and squeezed it hard. I tried to escape his grasp but it was too strong, "I'm not going to get disrespected by some girl. I did nothing to you but say a simple 'hello'."

His grasp got tighter and I could feel my hand going numb.

Tuff pushed him away from me and growled, "Leave my sister alone."

It looked like Scott was about jump at Tuff, but someone came over to talk to him. That gave us time to sneak away and haul ass outta there.

When we got outside, I started rambling about how we break it to Astrid.

"I don't know if I can tell her, Tuff! She's gonna have an outburst again! Then she'll never forgive herself and she'll start using a knife to-."

He cut me off by pushing me into a tree. "Calm down, Ruff! I'm sure we can figure out how to tell her." He paused and an idea flickered in his eyes. "That is, if we tell her."

I stared at him in disbelief. Then I shoved him into some bushes. "ARE YOU NUTS!? WE CAN'T, NOT TELL HER!"

"Yes we can." He said as he got up from the bushes and shoved me into the tree again.

"No we can't!" I shoved him harder into the bush, making him stumble to the ground.

He kicked me in my leg and I fell backwards. I grabbed a stick and threw it at his head. He dodged it and threw a rock at my shoulder.

I winced as it hit me and stung. "You little bitch."

"Stop playin' around then, fuck face." He said back.

I got up and walked towards his car. "Whatever let's just go. We'll figure this out as we go."

Hopefully.


	8. Chapter 8

**Another day, another chapter! And about the comment I made in the last chapter, I wasn't directing it specifically to one or two people. Just saying it in general. Don't want to start anything bad:)**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Henry POV

"So, wanna play another game?" I asked Astrid.

We were both in my apartment, sitting at the dining table. She was getting frustrated because I was winning literally every board game I pulled out.

"How are you doing this!?" Astrid pounded her hand on the table, "It's like you know my every move and where I'm gonna move them. You even won at Monopoly!"

I chuckled. "Maybe you're not trying hard enough."

She looked up at me and I could see the slight hurt in her eyes. "I am trying hard enough Mr. Haddock. I've been trying all this time even if you didn't know. I'm good at hiding stuff like that."

Several moments had passed in silence. I could feel a small tension in the room, so I had to think of something quick. Before I could think of anything, Astrid got up and went to the kitchen. She pulled out the most random things and set them on the counter. Without turning around, she gestured me over.

"What are you doing?" I asked as I came over.

She didn't talk for a few seconds then she said quietly, "I'm going to make something."

I looked over the various things on the counter. _Grapes, tomatoes, butter, yogurt, sour cream…_

I raised an eyebrow. "What are you gonna make out of this?"

"Anything." She was still talked quietly and grabbed some eggs. "Wanna help?"

"Um, sure."

I had no idea want to do with the stuff she got. They were all too random. But I watched as she cracked an egg into a giant bowl, failing miserably. She got eggshells all in the yolk and all over her hands.

I watched her for a while, trying not to laugh. "Do you need any help, milady."

She stopped what she was doing and growled, "Don't call me that."

"Why not?"

She paused as if she had to think about it. Then she continued to crack more eggs. "Aren't you basically saying 'my lady'?"

"Yeah." I said grabbing the grapes and the yogurt.

"Well I'm _**not**_ your lady." She had a cold tone in her voice along with 'The Glare' she gave me at the corner of her eye.

 _Shit. This is not going the direction I want_. I started mashing up some grapes in the yogurt, thinking about what to say. "I-I never meant it like that. I just, uh, said it for fun."

She stared at me for a little longer. Then she rolled her eyes. "Don't play like that, Henry. And I need some paper towels. A lot of them too."

I wandered over to the sink but nearly had a heart attack when she basically jumped on me.

"Henry! I just remembered something that you didn't want to tell me." She jumped up and down like a little kid, talking frantically.

"What didn't I want to-." Then I suddenly realized what she was talking about. "Oh my god, Astrid no."

"Astrid yes."

I grabbed the paper towel and handed it to her. "I didn't say I would tell you, ya know."

"But you said maybe." She said as she cleaned up her egg mess. "And that's not a no."

"But it's not a yes either."

She started pouting at this point. "Pretty please?"

"No."

"With a cherry on top?"

Honestly, I didn't want to tell her but her pouting was tempting me to.

"Tell you what," I started as I put the grape yogurt in the fridge, "If you make something that is actually _good_ , then I'll tell you."

She elbowed me in my side at the insult. "You know that's not possible."

I smiled at her. "Then I guess you're not that desperate to know."

As I smiled at her, I noticed her slightly blushing. She turned away from me and crossed her arms. "Well I'm not going to do it cause I'm gonna fail anyway."

"You don't know that, marshmallow."

She turned and raised an eyebrow at me. I raised an eyebrow back at her. Then she stuck her tongue out at me and I mimicked her. She grinned at me, turning away again when I did

Then there was a knock at the door. I walked over and looked through the peephole. Ruff and Tuff. I gave out a long sigh and opened the door.

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked.

"We have something to address to Astrid Diane Hofferson." Ruff spoke so loud that I heard it echo through the whole hallway.

"Ok, tell everyone in the world my middle name, will ya." Astrid called to Ruff from inside.

"But really, Henry." Tuff said seriously, "We have something to tell her."

I stood there looking between the two of them. Eventually I let them in and they sat on the couch next to Astrid.

The twins whispered to each other for a bit until Ruff spoke up. "So you know we have traveled from afar with some info."

"And you not knowing if it's good or bad makes it even more of a risk to tell." Tuff said.

"Stop wasting my time you two." Astrid said annoyed.

They both turned their heads towards her. "Oh I'm sorry, what are you in a rush to do?" Tuff said, suspicious.

"Nothing. I just want you tell me." She replied.

They started whispering to each other again.

"Ok, blondie. Me and this disappointment over here," Ruff pointed at Tuff and he narrowed his eyes at her, "Went downtown to a random meet up."

"And at this random meet up, you could say we ' _encountered_ ' someone you know." Tuff said.

"That saying, you probably want this person to rot in the deepest depths of Hell."

I was getting quite impatient with those two. They were stalling and I knew it. "Can you guys just summarize instead of saying every detail?"

"Yeah. I'm losing interest in you guys." Astrid said slumping back on the couch.

Ruff let out a long sigh. "We basically seen Scott today."

I looked over at Astrid to see her reaction. She was surprisingly calm but looked at Ruff with an uninterested face. Ruff looked at me, then at Tuff, and at me again.

"Is that all?" Astrid said blankly.

Ruff was about to talk but Tuff cut her off. "Yep! That's all we had to tell you!"

I seen Ruff look at him, puzzled. He got up, pulling Ruff with him.

"I mean, why would we come here just to tell you that we seen Scott?" Tuff said walking towards the door. "But we'll be leaving now, since we have absolutely nothing else to say, right Ruffey?"

"What the fuck are you d-." She was cut off again by Tuff covering her mouth and dragged her to the door.

Tuff opened it, and pushed her out. They argued quietly for a few minutes until Tuff turned back to us and gave a awkward grin. "Sorry for the technical difficulty. Have a wonderful day." Then he closed the door.

Me and Astrid sat there confused. "What just happened?" I said after a while.

Astrid snickered. "Disaster. That's what happened."

"Do you think that's really all what they wanted to tell you?" I asked.

"No. Seeing that it's something to do with Scott, they probably have a whole series of news to tell me.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey! I'm so sorry I haven't been updating in nearly 2 weeks. It's been so crazy lately, and with school starting up soon...UGH! But I'll try my best to update as soon as possible.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Astrid POV

There was a lot to do today. Mostly running errands around town with Ruff. The rent had to be paid, we had to buy more food, Ruff's mom was having a cookout too so we had to get stuff for that too. _Good thing me and Ruff got our paychecks at the same time. And me getting paid extra for that one day._

Ruff turned up the radio to her favorite song. She was jamming the whole time ever since we left home. Lucky for her, I had to drive the whole time.

"Dance with me, Ash!" She said waving her arms in my face.

"You want us to crash don't you." I said ignoring the fact her hand was covering one of my eyes.

"We're not gonna crash. You're more experienced than me."

"But this is a highway, Ruff."

"And?"

I rolled my eyes and pushed her hand away. "And it doesn't mean everyone around us is as experienced as me."

"Then they're fucking dumb to try and drive here." She stuck her foot out the window, covering the mirror.

 _Oh my god. She's gonna get us killed._

"Can you do something helpful for me?" I asked her.

"Like what?"

"Tell me what exit I'm supposed to take on my GPS."

She took my phone, looked out the window, and to me.

"Dude. We just passed it."

"WHAT!?"

I swerved a bit and the car in the other lane honked at us.

"Yep. But we can take the next exit."

"That'll take longer though." I whined, "We're already running behind."

"Loosen up, Ash. I'm pretty sure my mom won't bitch about us being late."

 _True_.

…

I felt my back crack as Ruff's mom gave me a bear hug. She did the same to Ruff and leaded us into her house.

The house didn't change a bit. It was exactly how it was since me and Ruff were 13. Picture frames of both of us and Tuff doing crazy stuff, countless unreturned books from the library on an old desk, and dusted up shoes in the corner of the living room.

The smell of food filled the air as I walked in the kitchen. I had no idea what to look at, it was so messy. Probably because she had to get ready for the cookout.

"Mom," Ruff started, "All this isn't necessary."

"Pffft!" She guffawed. "Me marrying your father wasn't necessary but I did anyway."

"Damn," Was all I said as I watched Mom turn over fried chicken in a pan.

"Would you girls go and check the food on the grill, please?"

"Yes ma'am." We both said and stepped out the back door to a huge grill.

"It's been a long time since I saw Mom this frantic about something," I said as I batted flies away from the grill. "Got any ideas why?"

"I don't know," She said grabbing a hotdog, "Maybe it's that time of the month."

I prodded her in the side with some tongs and she yelped. At that moment, Mom came out with more food, setting it on a table.

"Stop play around, girls." She scoffed. "Where's your brother anyway, Rochelle?"

I saw Ruff roll her eyes to 'Rochelle' but quickly answered "I don't know."

Mom shook her head in disappointment. "He better come. He missed the last few family events."

"He's probably fucking around with his friends somewhere." She said bluntly.

"Watch your mouth." Mom scolded.

I snickered and she punched my arm.

"You know what," Mom started, angrily, "Instead of sitting around, doing nothing and abusing Astrid, you can be setting up tables in the yard, Rochelle."

She growled and stomped off in the house. After Ruff was out of sight, Mom walked towards me and put more food on the grill.

"Could you please call or text Tahbias for me." She mumbled so low that I could barely hear.

I nodded and went into the house. Ruff stumbled pass me, carrying a table over her head.

"Need help?" I asked.

She ignored me and kept walking. I rolled my eyes and dialed Tahbias's number in my phone. It rang a couple times until it was put to voicemail.

Great. I knew he wouldn't pick up.

Then my phone started ringing. I didn't even look to see who it was and picked it up. "Hello?"

"I'm coming right now. I just got caught up in…stuff."

His voice was really raspy and sounded like he struggled to talk.

"Are you okay? You sound like you just woke up."

" _Yeah I'm fine."_

I raised an eyebrow, knowing he was lying. "Bro, you can tell me what's up."

He gave out a long sigh on the other end.

" _I'll tell you when I get there."_

I scoffed. "Yeah. Okay."

I hung up and Ruff was coming back in the house for more tables.

"Was that Mr. Disappointment?" She growled.

"Yeah. He said he was coming but we all know how that ends."

...

( **Got lazy writing the cookout part)**

…

After everyone left, we had to stay to cleanup a bit. Mom was in a 'somewhat' better mood than earlier but was pissed when Tahbias didn't show up. She ranted on and on to us while we packed washed some dishes.

"I can't believe he didn't come. He knew it was today and bailed out like he always does!"

Mom slammed down a box on the counter, and threw in a couple dishes.

"I haven't seen him ever since he left once he turned 18. And that was like 3 years ago! He can at least see his mom sometimes, but no! He decides to fuck around with drugs and shit."

I jumped when she slammed the cabinet shut and stomped away.

I looked over at Ruff and she was shaking her head. "I don't like seeing her like this at all." She whispered.

Then I heard the front door open and shut quietly. I could barely hear the footsteps coming down the hall with Mom stopping around upstairs. A head peeked around the corner and stepped into the kitchen.

"Hey guys." Tuff said quietly.

"Well look who decided to show up for once." Ruff boasted.

"Yeah. And why do you have sunglasses on and a bandana over your mouth?" I added on to Ruff.

He was silent for a while and said, "I wanted to look cool."

"That's the worst fucking lie I've ever heard." Ruff scoffed.

I went up to him and hesitated before taking off his sunglasses. He had a huge, gushing, black eye, the other eye slightly bruised.

Me and Ruff gasped at the sight. "What the hell happened to you?" I said as I untied the bandana.

When it was off, I stumbled backwards when I saw a long, deep, cut going across his cheek. He gave his best half smile to not irritate the wound.

"I kind of, uh, picked a fight with someone." He said hoarsely.

"Oh my god, we need to get mom." Ruff said rushing to the door.

Before she could get to the door, he pushed her away with one arm. "No! Don't tell her, anything but that!"

"Don't tell me what?"

Mom was coming down from the top of the stairs with some huge, stacked boxes. In no time, Tuff threw his disguise back on and hid behind me.

"Uh, nothing," I improvised, "Just talking about some…rumors I heard."

"Ok then. I'll be right back," She put down the all the boxes and grabbed her purse, "I'm going around the corner to get some bins."

Me and Ruff waved bye, not moving until we heard her leave the driveway. Without hesitation, I ran to the supply closet where I was sure a first aid kit was. I came back to the kitchen to see Tuff taking off his disguise.

"That is one nasty cut," I took a good look at it, "I don't know how I'll be able to fix that up."

"Who even brought you here?" Ruff asked.

"Myself." He responded, bitterly.

I stared at him for a moment, processing what he just said. "So your saying, you drove all the way here with one fucked up eye, and another that isn't any better? With that being on the highway!?"

"Also with a lot of bruises." He lifted up his shirt to show his whole side basically purple.

Are you serious?

"Bro, who did you even fight?" Ruff asked, kneeling down, poking his side.

He didn't answer. He tried to move away from her poking but failed.

"Tuff," I started, "You said you would tell what's wrong."

Moments later, he sighed and looked at the ceiling. "A couple days ago, me and Ruff didn't tell you that Scott was looking for you. So instead of telling you, I went to him myself…" His voice drifted off and he cleared his voice, now looking at me. "I wasn't gonna have anybody mess with you."

It was like I couldn't move a single muscle in my body. So many thoughts were running through my head that I couldn't quite grasp.

When I snapped out my trance, I found myself balling my fists up. My eyes watered up and my face turned hot. I wasn't getting angry, but instead I was very upset.

"I always knew… that he would go crazy that I left him," I said slowly, "But I never knew he would take it this far."

"What?" Ruff asked confused.

"There's two reasons I broke up with Scott. He was a player, and he's the head of a gang. Thing is, since I know about his gang, I can get him and his members in jail. And he doesn't want that to happen."

"That's not all though." Tuff said, "I have a lot more to tell you."

I stood and helped Tuff up. "You can tell me that later. Right now I need to fix your face."

"What are you gonna do about the situation then?" Ruff asked.

I thought about it and answered, "It's me he wants, so I'll have to go to him."

"I hope you have a plan, blondie." Ruff said, "You can't just wing something like this."

"Oh, believe me, I do." I looked intentionally at a knife on the counter with a smirk.

Ruff and Tuff followed my gaze, slowly. Then they both turned towards me saying, "Astrid, no."

"Astrid, yes."


	10. Chapter 10

**Heyyyyyy! Yeah, yeah, I know. I've been slacking on my writing and it's already a whole 'nother year. I decided that I need to stop being such a couch potato and finish this story. Well, that's what I plan to do the next couple of weeks. Focus. On. The. Story.**

 **Anyway, Enjoy!**

* * *

Astrid POV

"You're doing what!?"

Henry was panicking as I told him the whole thing about Scott, and what I was going to do.

"You heard me the first time." I growled as I searched through my closet.

I happened to find a lot of missing stuff in there but not what I was looking for. Henry stood next to me, looking over my shoulder.

"Ya know, you do some pretty dumb things from time to time," He stated, "But this is by far the dumbest."

By time he was done talking, I found a gun in the corner of the closet. I shrieked happily and showed him it.

"Found it!" I cheered.

He looked terrified and stepped back. "What the hell, Astrid!?"

"Don't worry, it's empty."

"Why do you even have that?" He asked, petrified.

"Reasons. Now I have to find the other one!" I dove back in the closet and started throwing stuff out.

"Another-, Astrid you're not planning to kill my cousin, are you?"

I guffawed. "Oh please. I'm not a psychopath. But it's just in case."

My eyes widened as I spotted a machete. "Oh yeah, baby."

Before I could grab it, Henry pulled me out and set me on a chair. "Snap out of it, Ash. You're obviously in one of your 'crazy' states."

"No I'm not." I whined, "I'm perfectly fine."

"Oh, okay. Apparently, grabbing weapons out your closet and being excited about it is perfectly fine." He said sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes and stood. "Who wouldn't be excited?"

Then I grabbed my backpack off my bed and stuffed the pistol in it. I ignored the fact that Henry was staring dead at me. I know he thinks this is a terribly, stupid idea, but this is the only choice I have.

As I walked over to the closet to get the machete, Henry sat down at my desk and started doodling on some paper.

"Remember what happened that night?" he started, "The night of the accident?"

I paused at what he asked. "What about it?"

"Wouldn't what you're trying to do be like the same act Heather pulled?"

Wait... would it be like it? I was quiet for a few seconds before I said, "She had a car. I'm not taking my car."

"But still," he finished up his drawing and turned towards me, "Would you want a similar outcome like that?"

I sighed. I knew he was right but I didn't want to accept it. "Henry, if I don't do this, someone's gonna get hurt. That's why I have no choice."

Without another word, I walked out the room to the bathroom door.

"Ruff!" I yelled.

"What?" She screamed over the shower.

"I'm leaving now!"

"Don't do no dumb shit!"

"Sure." I mumbled before I turned towards Henry. "I'll be back soon. Probably."

"Okay." He said with a sad look.

In no time, I was pulled in a tight hug. It took me sec to realize what was happening, but I instantly hugged him back.

We hugged for another minute until I pulled away, blushing. "I have to go now."

I quickly walked out the front door, closing it quietly behind me.

…

I walked down an ally way that was out of sight of the city streets. A silver, cellar door was the waiting at the other end of the ally. I cautiously approached it and knocked.

The doors opened and a bulky man stepped through. He took a good look at me before he asked, "What do you want?"

"I would like to speak to Scott." I spoke firmly.

He crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. "He's not expecting anyone right now."

I scoffed, "You obviously don't know me. I would like to speak with him, now."

"I'm not letting you in if you have no-."

"GODDAMMIT, HE IS EXPECTING ME! I'm the person who he's been looking for! Astrid Hofferson!"

He stared at me for a moment and stepped inside the cellar, gesturing me to follow.

It smelled strongly of alcohol and weed as I walked down the stairs. A lot of noise and laughter was coming from behind a door the bulky man pounded on.

Another man came through the door and closed it quickly.

"You already know Scott's in a meeting, Aiden!" He yelled, "You're supposed to keep watch so no one tries to come down here!"

"Sorry David, but this girl wants to speak with him." Aiden pointed towards me.

David smiled as he looked at me. "It's been a long time, Astrid."

I rolled my eyes. "I try not to think about it."

He chuckled and gestured Aiden away. "I think Scott will be really happy to see you. Or he'll just be really pissed."

"Eh, fifty, fifty."

David chuckled and opened the door. "Aye boss, ya have a visitor."

"Who is it? I'm busy!" I heard him yell from the other side.

David pulled me inside and a series of murmurs filled the room.

I felt my face getting hot as everyone stared at me. My gaze wandered around the room until I made eye contact with Scott. He had a look of surprise and satisfaction on his face.

A few moments passed until he stood and spoke. "This meeting is dismissed."

There was a small pause until everyone proceeded to leave, giving me crooked looks as they passed.

Once the door closed, I turned back to Scott. He had a smug look on his face.

"Nice to see you up and about." He spoke softly.

"Can't say the same about you." I said dryly.

His eyes narrowed for a moment as his stance shifted, "Why are you here?"

I scoffed. He knew exactly why I was here.

I walked over to the far wall and leaned against it. "What is it that you want from me, Scott?"

He laughed. "Oh, Astrid... What makes you think that?"

"The fact that you won't stay out my fucking life and leave me and my friends alone!" I snapped. Uh oh, the feelings coming back... I watched as Scott's expression grew darker.

"I wouldn't have to worry about that if you never left me. You brought this on yourself. Besides," He walked around the table and sat on the edge right in front of me, "Why wouldn't a girl like you want to be with a guy like me?"

"Because a guy like you doesn't deserve any girl." I said coldly.

He shook his head. "Oh, Astrid Hofferson. Will you ever change?"

My blood was basically boiling at this point. I took off my backpack and set it down next to my feet. At that same moment, I felt his hand on my shoulder. I looked up to see him smiling, wickedly.

"You know, I've really missed you over these passed weeks," his grip tightened on my arm, "I wanted you back."

In a split second, I reached in my backpack, pulled out my pistol, and put it to his head. He instantly froze when he felt the contact of the weapon.

"Hands. Off. **Now**." I spoke with fury. He slowly took his hand off, he eyes never leaving the gun.

"Now, lemme get something through that thick skull of yours... I want nothing to do with you. I **hate** you. If you ever touch me again, you won't be around to miss me."

His gaze went to me, the gun, and me again. "I don't think it's a good idea to be threatening me. Especially when I have guys that can take you down in a second."

I rolled my eyes. "You really think I'm afraid of your sorry-ass sidekicks?"

Suddenly, the door busted open, and David stepped through with 3 other guys. I stared up at them, dumbfounded. Scott laughed at my reaction and shifted out of my reach.

"I told you, Astrid. It's not a good idea to threaten me." He walked over to one of the dudes, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Why don't you just give us your gun? If you oblige, we'll go easy on you. If not..."

 _Are you fucking serious?_

Without thinking, I raised the gun in a blink of an eye and shot the first guy. Before I even got to pull the trigger on David, I felt pain course through my entire body. _Shit_!

My surroundings started to spin around me as I felt myself hit the cold ground. I couldn't see anything but a pair of Nike shoes step in front of me. I felt like I could barely breathe. I felt hands reaching in my sweatshirt pocket and seen my phone shattering against the paved floor.

I tried to keep my eyes open but they felt heavy. _No_...

Slowly, darkness closed in and I couldn't stay awake any longer.

 _No_...


	11. Chapter 11

**Welcome Back! This chapter is a little bit of back tracking but I guess that doesnt matter, right?**

 **But Enjoy!**

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Henry POV  


I couldn't help myself. I had to follow her.

Right when Astrid left, I threw on some dark clothes and walked out following a little behind. But of course, Ruff just had to come along.

Ruff trailed behind me, stepping on the back of my shoes every now and then on purpose.

"Will you stop riding my ass and just walk next to me?" I growled as she did it again.

She snickered. "Now that's something I would love to do... Ride your ass."

A little disturbed of what she just uttered, I picked up my pace. We went down an alley way that we seen Astrid turn at a while ago, and spotted some cellar doors. I walked right up to it but stopped short when the doors flung open. A group of guys and a couple of girls came up and walked past. Some of them gave me ugly looks, others acted like I wasn't there.

After they passed, I came up to the doors and stepped in.

It was really dark except for some light that came from another door ahead.

Suddenly, a giant thud came from behind me. I whirled around to find Ruff falling face first on the stairs.

"Mother Fuck!" She hissed.

I helped her up and pulled her into a small room at the right.

"You okay?"

"Do I look okay?!" Ruff whisper-yelled.

"I don't know. I can't see anything." I pulled out my phone and turned on the flashlight.

She had a giant gash going along her cheek to her forehead. It was already turning purple and dripping with blood.

I grimaced at the sight. "Goddammit, Ruff. How the hell did you manage to do that?"

She winced as she tried to smile. "Maybe because I was trying to ride your ass."

I sighed heavily and unzipped my jacket.

"Dang, Henry. Just couldn't wait 'til we got home, could you?" She smirked at me as I took it off the rest of the way.

I rolled my eyes at her and basically wrapped the whole right side of her face up.

We both jumped as we heard a door slam open. I peeked around the corner and saw 2? No, 3 guys in a room at the end of the hallway.

I turned back to Ruff and put my finger up to my lips.

Seconds later, there was 2 gunshots that almost happened at the same time. Ruff threw herself at me as I froze.

I could've sworn I heard someone hit the floor, and some shattering.

We both stood right where we were until we heard someone say "let's get outta here". Footsteps went down the hall and up the stairs, the cellar doors closing behind them.

A moment went by before we stepped out the tiny space.

I entered the dim room, stopping right in front of one of the guys. I kneeled down and flipped him over.

I almost threw up when I saw him. Damn. Shot square in his head.

Leaving him there, I moved around the table and my heart dropped when I saw a pool of blood around... Astrid.

"ASTRID!"

I dropped right to her side to examine her. She was shot in her side. Ruff was beside me in seconds and checked her pulse.

"Oh thank God! She still breathing!" She sighed in relief. "But she needs to get to a hospital ASAP."

Ruff said something else but I zoned her out. My focus was all on Astrid. My gaze traveled down to her wound. Blood oozing out of her made my vision blur.

Snapping out of my daze, I gently picked her up, careful not to move her too much.

Ruff and I moved slowly to the stairs until Ruff had trouble opening the door.

"Ugh. Ruff!" I exclaimed.

"Henry," Ruff started, "It won't open."

"What?"

I gestured Ruff over and put Astrid in her arms. I tried pushing it open but it wouldn't budge. I soon found myself charging at the door with all my might.

"No, no, no, no. We have to get out of here. They must've blocked it." I paced back and forth in the hall, a million thoughts going at once.

"Can you please hold her now? Because she's really heavy and I don't wanna have a mental breakdown." Ruff's voice barely a whisper.

"Ok. But you need to call Tahbias. Tell him we're at Scott's basement, cellar thing. I'm sure he's been here before."

…...

(One day later)

…...

Astrid POV

I woke with a start.

At first I didn't know where I was until I saw an IV going in my arm. I looked around the room, half expecting someone to be in here, but I saw nothing.

Some noise was coming from what I assumed was the bathroom. It opened and Ruff walked through. She paused when she saw me and shuffled over.

"Astrid!" She held my arm tightly as she sat beside me. "I almost thought you wouldn't wake up-"

"Why am I here?" I blurted out, "Who brought me here?"

She stared at my and gave half a smile. "Uh, I think I'm not supposed to say anything."

I stared at her bewildered. This fucker won't be talking anytime soon.

Then the door opened. Henry walked in with some water and chips. He looked over at me, and almost stumbled backwards.

"I-… You-…"

Good. Someone who can tell me what the fuck is going on.

I tried sitting up but quickly noticed and bandage around my middle. I fell back softly and lazily gestured him over. When he was next to me, I flicked Ruff in the arm. "Can you give us a minute?"

She scoffed. "As if I'll let you two have the best time of your lives in the hospital room."

"Out!" I pointed towards the door.

"Fine. Fine, I'll leave." Throwing her hands up, she stomped out the room.

I slowly turned my head in Henry's direction to find him staring at me. I gave him a small smile. For a second he looked surprised but quickly came closer when I flicked my finger towards myself.

When he got close enough, I tangled my hand in his hair pulled. Hard.

He yelped as I pulled harder. "Henry, how did I get here? And you better tell me because I'm not playing any games at this moment in time."

I could physically see him swallow nervously. "Uh, me and Ruff... we kinda... um... followed you." He stuttered so bad I could barely understand him.

"So," I started, "You came with me anyway even though I specifically told you not to?"

"Yes."

My grip tightened even further as I laughed. "I didn't need you or Ruffey's help. But I should've known that you are a hard-headed man."

"Well, me being hard-headed saved your damn life, Astrid." He hissed.

I flinched as he said that, dumbfounded of how pissed he sounded. I slowly let his hair go and turned my back to him. He did have a point.

Before I could retort a response, he spoke in a barely audible voice. "Did you know how scared I was to see you on the floor in your own blood? I was terrified. I thought-" His voice broke and he cleared his throat. "I thought I was gonna lose you. I couldn't even imagine how this would've went if I actually listened to you."

That caught my attention. I turned back to him to see him staring at the ceiling.

He continued. "I don't know when you'll realize that the things you do affect me. Especially with you being bipolar and all." He looked down at me and sighed. "At least I love you enough to actually worry about you."

The world around me seemed to just stop when I heard what he said. At least I love you enough to actually worry about you. I tried to say something but my mouth was frozen. After a while of just staring at each other, he patted my arm and started towards the door.

"W-Wait!" I blurted it out before I could even stop myself.

He turned around, raising a brow in my direction.

"Come here." At this point I can't stop anything I say. When he was at my side again, I reached my arms towards him and he came into my embrace.

"Thanks. F-For being a hard-headed, dumbass." I chuckled at my own choice of words.

I could feel the vibration of his laugh on my shoulder. All too soon, he broke away and exited the room without another word, leaving me in my own thoughts.

 _Wow._


End file.
